Historic  Litchfield 


Address  Delivered  at  the  Bi-Centennial 

Celebration  of  the  Town  of  Litchfield, 

August  1, 1920 


By  Hon.  Morris  W.  Seymour,  LL.D 


SEYMOUR,  Morris  "Woodruff,  lawyer;  6.  at 
Lifchfield,  Conn.,  Oct.  6,  1842;  s.  Origen  Storrs 
(late  chief  justice  Supreme  Ct.,  Conn.)  and 
Lucy  Morris  (Woodruff)  S.;  A.B.,  Yale,  1866; 
LL.B.,  Columbia  Law  Sch.,  1867;  m.  Charlotte 
Sanford.  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  Sept.  15,  ISGIi. 
Practiced  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  since  1867,  special- 
izing in  corpn.  and  patent  law;  lecturer  Law 
D<'pt.,  Yale.  Judge  of  City  Ct.,  Bridgeport,  1879- 
80;  corpn.  counsel,  1880-2;  mem.  Conn.  State 
Senate,  1881,  1S82;  col.  on  staff  of  C,ov.  English, 
1867-69,  1870-71.  Democrat.  Episcopalian.  PITS. 
St.-itc  Reformatory;  mem.  Bd.  of  Pardons. 
1883  —  ;  trustee  Conn.  Industrial  Sch..  Cheshire 
Acad.;  pres.  Hotchkiss  Sch.,  Lakeville,  Conn.; 
chancellor  diocese  of  Conn.  President  Conn. 
Soc.  Mil.  Order  Foreign  Wars.  Conn.  Soc.  Co- 
lonial Wars;  v.-p.  Conn.  Soc.  of  the  Cincinnati. 
Conn.  Hist.  Society.  Cliibs:  Yale  (New  York); 
Craduates'.  University.  Home:  Litchfleld,  Conn. 
Address:  Bridgeport,  Conn. 


Morri!»  Woodruff,  lawver-  OH- 
£**•  28,  1920;  see  Vol.  XI  (1920-21) 


GHERARDI  DAVIS 

Historic  Litchfield 


Address  Delivered  at  the  Bi-Centennial 

Celebration  of  the  Town  of  Litchfield, 

August  1, 1920 


By  Hon.  Morris  W.  Seymour,  LL.D 


PRIVATELY  PRINTED 

1920 


"Let  M>  now  Praise  Famous  Men — 
Our  Fathers  that  begat  us." 

— Ecdus:44;l. 


Fellow  Citizens,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

An  attempt  to  epitomize  the  events  of  two  hundred 
years  in  an  hour's  time  is  no  easy  task  in  any  circum- 
stances. It  becomes  doubly  difficult  when  those  years 
are  filled  with  the  stirring  events  that  have  marked 
the  history  of  this  community.  I  do  not  hesitate  to 
say  that  no  town  of  an  equal  number  of  inhabitants  in 
this  or  any  other  country  has  played  so  conspicuous 
a  part  in  the  affairs  of  a  state  or  nation  as  has  the  town 
whose  two  hundredth  birthday  we  celebrate.  Its  very 
conception  originated  in  a  historic  tragedy.  Years  before 
the  settlement  of  the  town,  our  State  officials  became 
convinced  of  the  hostility  of  the  English  Government  and 
its  determination  to  revoke  our  charter.  To  frustrate 
this  design,  in  part,  and  to  prevent  the  "Western  Lands," 
as  they  were  called,  which  embraced  the  territory  of  this 
town — in  the  words  of  the  enactment — "From  falling 
into  the  grasp  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros  and  permitting  him 
to  enrich  himself  and  his  minions,"  the  Legislature,  on 
January  26,  1686,  ordered  the  sale  of  those  lands  to  the 
Towns  of  Hartford  and  Windsor.  A  few  years  later, 
there  dropped  from  our  Royal  Oak,  in  whose  bosom  safe- 
ly lay  concealed  our  hidden  charter,  an  acorn,  which  by 
reason  of  this  action  of  the  legislature,  sprouted  and  blos- 
somed forth  as  the  Patent  of  this  Town. 


A  company  was  organized  in  1718,  upon  the  petition 
of  Lieutenant  John  Marsh  and  Deacon  John  Buel,  and 
they,  with  others,  were  incorporated  by  the  General  As- 
sembly at  its  May  Session,  1719,  to  settle  a  town  called 
Litchfield  on  the  "Western  Lands"  at  Bantam.  These 
original  settlers  were  residents  of  and  men  of  affairs  in 
the  Towns  of  Wethersfield,  Hartford,  Windsor,  Lebanon 
and  Farmington. 

Among  the  list  of  settlers  appear  names  that  we  hear 
uttered  almost  daily  in  our  streets  and  today  are  fortunate 
to  have  some  of  their  descendants  still  with  us — Marsh, 
Buel,  Woodruff,  Webster,  Griswold,  Gibbs,  Stoddard, 
Sanford  and  many  others. 

The  plan  of  the  village  has  never  been  materially 
changed.  The  settlers  who  had  the  first  choice  selected 
the  southern  portion  of  the  town  along  the  Bantam  Riv- 
er and  Little  Pond,  presumably  because  of  the  natural 
meadows  which  gave  them  hay  for  their  cattle  without 
waiting  the  slow  process  of  clearing  the  land, — the  first 
pitch  was  the  upper  corner  of  South  Street  and  Gallows 
Lane  (then  called  Middle  Street). 

Following  the  usual  custom  of  our  Puritan  forefathers, 
the  original  proprietors  here  built  a  church  and  then  a 
school  house.  From  those  two  sources, — that  church  and 
that  school — it  is  not  claiming  too  much  to  say  there 
emanated  two  of  the  greatest  reforms  the  world  has  ever 
known.  The  temperance  movement,  which  has  culmin- 
ated in  the  enactment  of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  to  the 
Constitution,  and  which  has  now  been  declared  by  the 
Supreme  Court  at  Washington  a  binding  feature  through- 
out the  length  and  breadth  of  our  land,  seems  to  have 
been  initiated  here. 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  very  first  Temperance  Soci- 
ety in  the  world  originated  in  an  organization  in  Litchfield 
by  an  association  of  our  citizens  in  May,  1789,  and  a 
quite  thorough  examination  of  the  subject  would  seem 
to  verify  the  truth  of  this  statement.  There  certainly 
was  a  noble  collection  of  gentlemen  here  at  that  time 
who  did  all  they  could  to  push  forward  the  temperance 
reform. 


The  splendid  results  did  not  fully  appear  until  the  set- 
tlement of  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  who — though  his  attack 
in  the  first  instance  was  from  a  different  angle,  and 
directed  toward  the  clergymen  themselves — did  perhaps 
for  that  very  reason  the  most  effective  work.  Dr.  Beech- 
er's  attention  was  first  called  to  the  temperance  question 
through  his  attendance  on  the  Convocation  of  Ministers 
at  the  adjoining  towns  of  Plymouth  and  Sharon.  He  was 
shocked  both  at  the  amount  of  liquor  consumed  and  its 
effect  on  the  ministers  themselves.  It  was  his  fervent 
zeal,  his  sermons  and  advocacy  of  the  cause  that  resulted 
in  the  abolition  of  liquor  in  ministerial  circles,  and  called 
the  attention  of  good  citizens  the  world  over  to  the  evils 
of  intemperance.  The  Massachusetts  Temperance  Soci- 
ety, one  of  the  best  conducted  and  strongest  in  the  coun- 
try, is  said  to  have  been  the  direct  result  of  this  Litchfield 
movement,  having  been  incorporated  just  a  year  after  Dr. 
Beecher's  philippic.  Among  the  many  lessons  of  the  late 
war,  none  have  impressed  the  people  more  than  that  in 
a  certain  sense  we  are  our  brother's  keeper, — that  rum 
and  thrift  do  not  travel  together — that  "Dutch"  courage 
cannot  compare  with  moral  courage.  Think  of  this,  my 
fellow-citizens!  Within  the  records  of  yonder  Court 
House  there  is  a  receipt  showing  that  my  own  grand- 
father— when  High  Sheriff  of  this  county — purchased 
with  the  money  of  the  State  seven  gallons  of  rum  for  the 
refreshment  of  five  of  the  highest  judicial  officers  of  the 
State  during  five  days'  session  of  the  Court  of  Errors! 
More  than  a  quart  per  judge  per  day!  Is  it  to  be  won- 
dered at  that  some  of  their  opinions  at  times  seemed  mud- 
dled? 

The  second  great  reform  which  emanated  from  this 
town  and  church,  the  schools  established  here,  and  the 
pure  air  of  freedom  which  we  breathe,  was  the  doom  of 
slavery,  which  was  sounded  when  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe 
wrote  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin."  John  Brown  was  born 
just  over  the  line  in  Torrington  in  1800, — no  great  dis- 
tance from  the  Beecher  Homestead.  A  man  with  a  mod- 
ern rifle,  standing  on  the  Grant  farm,  could  have  hit  either 


the  Beecher  Homestead  or  the  John  Brown  birthplace. 
In  the  words  of  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes: 

"All  through  the  conflict  up  and  down, 

Marched  Uncle  Tom  and  old  John  Brown, 

One  ghost,  one  form  ideal; 

And  which  was  false  and  which  was  true, 

And  which  was  mightier  of  the  two, 

The  wisest  sibyl  never  knew, 

For  both  alike  were  real." 

The  crowning  victory  of  our  Civil  War  will  ever  link 
the  shores  of  the  Appomattox  with  the  Hills  of  Litch- 
field,— and  to  make  the  chain  stronger,  General  Grant, 
though  not  born  here,  was  descended  from  a  family  that 
for  many  years  lived  in  and  took  a  great  interest  in  the 
affairs  of  this  town. 

Fortunately  for  me,  the  history  of  the  Litchfield  Law 
School  has  been  brought  before  you  by  a  man  we  all  honor 
and  who  did  ample  justice  to  the  subject,  but,  as  a  loyal 
son  of  Litchfield  and  a  lawyer,  I  am  proud  of  the  fact  and 
wish  no  one  to  forget  that  here  was  established  and  car- 
ried on  for  many  years  not  only  the  first  law  school  in  the 
English-speaking  world,  but  one  that  has  for  all  time  im- 
pressed its  methods  on  the  legal  profession.  It  is  true  that 
at  Oxford,  Cambridge  and  other  universities  law  lectures 
were  delivered  before  the  establishment  of  the  Litchfield 
Law  School,  but  merely  as  a  part  of  the  polite  education 
of  a  scholar.  There  was  little  attempt  to  teach  the  eter- 
nal principles  of  the  law  or  their  practical  application. 
The  influence  of  the  Litchfield  Law  School  was  felt 
throughout  the  world,  but  of  course  most  of  all  in  our  own 
country.  Here  the  scholars  both  attended  lectures  and 
recited  the  lessons  they  had  learned.  This  it  was  that 
distinguishes  it  as  the  first  Law  School,  a  school  where 
lessons  were  taught.  That  Law  School,  Miss  Pierce's 
School,  and  the  Morris  Academy  did  much  to  educate  our 
people.  The  late  Chief  Justice  Seymour  once  said  that 
when  he  entered  Congress — as  late  as  1850 — he  was  met 
and  welcomed  by  over  thirty  members  of  the  House,  who 
had  graduated  at  the  Litchfield  Law  School  or  had  mar- 
ried women  who  had  graduated  at  Miss  Pierce's  School. 

The  Morris  Academy,  under  the  direction  of  Captain 


James  Morris,  a  soldier  who  distinguished  himself  at  the 
capture  of  Cornwallis,  also  added  materially  to  the  educa- 
tion, interest  and  influence  of  the  community. 

Naturally  all  the  ecclesiastical  and  religious  sentiment 
of  the  community  centered  around  the  First  Ecclesiasti- 
cal Society,  the  Congregational  Church,  but  as  the  inhab- 
itants increased  other  churches  were  formed. 

Quite  early  the  Episcopalians  had  the  services  of  a 
missionary  here,  but  in  1745,  Mr.  John  Davies,  an  English- 
man who  had  settled  in  the  town  and  was  deeply  attached 
to  the  principles  of  the  established  Church  of  England, 
gathered  around  him  the  people  of  the  neighborhood  and 
organized  St.  Michael's  Parish,  and  donated  to  it  a  piece 
of  land  on  which  subsequently  a  church  was  erected. 
From  that  day  to  this,  not  only  Litchfield,  but  New  Mil- 
ford  has  largely  benefited  by  his  generosity  and  the  in- 
terest of  his  family. 

The  late  Bishop  Davies  of  the  Diocese  of  Michigan,  and 
his  son,  the  Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  F.  Davies  of  the  Diocese  of 
Western  Massachusetts,  have  always  taken  a  great  inter- 
est in  Litchfield  and  have  often  visited  here  reviving  their 
family  interest  in  the  place  of  settlement  of  their  ances- 
tors in  this  country. 

St.  Michael's  Church  has  had  the  good  fortune  of  hav- 
ing Rectors  distinguished  for  their  piety  and  ability.  Per- 
haps the  Rev.  Henry  R.  Hudson,  the  distinguished  Shake- 
spearian scholar,  was  from  a  literary  point  of  view,  the 
most  distinguished.  He  was  Rector  of  the  church  for  two 
years  and  subsequently  became  Shakespearian  Professor 
at  Harvard  University. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church,  St.  Anthony's  Parish, 
was  started  largely  through  the  kindly  benevolence  and 
gifts  of  Miss  Julia  Beers,  a  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Seth 
P.  Beers.  Late  in  life  she  became  deeply  interested  in 
Roman  Catholicism,  and  by  her  social  influence  and  her 
many  devoted  friends  in  the  town,  she  gave  the  Parish 
an  influence  that  it  has  ever  since  retained. 

Our  Methodist  Brethren  ever  since  1837  have  main- 


tained  services  here,  and  have  always  had  an  influential 
and  devoted  congregation. 

Upon  the  settlement  of  the  town,  our  forefathers  seem 
to  have  pursued  a  wise  and  friendly  course  towards  the 
Indians,  and  on  the  whole — notwithstanding  a  few  un- 
pleasant instances — there  were  no  serious  conflicts. 

The  community  seemed  to  have  had  no  part  in  the 
first  French  and  Indian  War  of  1744,  commonly  called 
Queen  Anne's  War.  On  the  dispersion  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Acadia,  so  graphically  described  by  the  historian  Ban- 
croft and  the  poet  Longfellow,  some  four  hundred  of 
these  unfortunate  refugees  were  sent  to  Connecticut,  and 
by  our  Legislature,  on  January  21st,  1755,  distributed 
among  the  different  towns  of  the  State.  Of  these  a  num- 
ber were  sent  to  Litchfield,  as  appears  of  record,  and  some 
became  permanent  inhabitants  of  the  town. 

In  the  last  French  and  Indian  War,  beginning  in  1755, 
and  continuing  until  1763,  the  town  took  not  only  a  con- 
siderable but  a  distinguished  part. 

By  reason  of  the  death  of  Colonel  Williams  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Lake  George,  the  command  of  his  regiment  fell  on 
Colonel  Whiting,  then  of  the  Town  of  New  Haven,  but 
subsequently  removing  to  this  town.  He  distinguished 
himself  by  great  coolness,  skill  and  bravery.  Colonel 
Whiting's  orderly  book  and  sword  were  valued  possessions 
of  the  Whiting  family,  who,  until  within  a  year,  have  been 
residents  of  the  town.  The  Litchfield  Company  which,  un- 
der the  command  of  Captain  Archibald  McNeill  of  Colo- 
nel Whiting's  Regiment — although  not  composed  exclu- 
sively of  inhabitants  of  the  town — was  enlisted  in  this 
immediate  vicinity,  and  its  roster  contains  the  names  of 
distinguished  men  from  this  town,  members  of  whose  fam- 
ilies are  still  living  with  us — such  as  the  Marshes,  Bald- 
wins, Smiths,  Gibbs,  Catlins,  Warners,  Lords,  Stoddards, 
Beebes,  Osborns  and  Bissells — with  many  others. 

Dr.  Timothy  Collins,  who  had  been  the  first  Pastor  of 
the  Congregational  Church  of  Litchfield,  was  appointed 
as  one  of  the  physicians  and  surgeons  of  this  Connecticut 
Regiment. 

Of  the  part  taken  by  the  town  in  the  Revolutionary 


War,  the  difficulty  is  in  determining  what  to  omit.  With- 
out instituting  comparison,  it  can  safely  be  said  that 
Litchfield  did — as  she  has  always  done — her  full  duty. 
Circumstances  contributed  somewhat  to  the  prominence 
of  the  town.  The  control  of  Long  Island  Sound  and  the 
southern  shores  of  our  state  by  the  British  ships  and 
troops  necessarily  compelled  the  use  of  the  northern  route 
between  New  England  and  the  western  and  southern 
parts  of  our  country.  General  Washington,  when  desir- 
ous of  a  consultation  with  Count  Rochambeau  at  Wethers- 
field,  had  almost  of  necessity  to  pass  through  Litchfield. 
When  a  place  of  safety  for  provisions,  stores  and  prison- 
ers was  required,  what  better  situation  could  be  found 
than  among  our  secluded  hills?  So,  when  the  Royal 
Governor — Franklin  of  New  Jersey — and  Matthews, 
Mayor  of  New  York  City,  were  arrested,  and  Governor 
Trumbull  was  requested  to  detain  them,  he  immediately 
sent  them  to  Major  Moses  Seymour,  who  was  then  acting 
not  only  as  Commissioner  of  Supplies  but  of  prisoners  as 
well — to  be  detained,  and  the  original  warrant  for  the 
detention  of  Mayor  Matthews  is  now  in  the  possession  of 
Judge  Woodruff. 

None  of  the  Colonies'  soldiers  west  of  the  Connecticut 
River  was  ordered  to  Boston  at  the  time  of  the  Lexington 
Alarm.  Only  those  east  of  the  river  received  orders  to 
march,  while  those  on  the  west  side  were  generally  in- 
structed to  await  orders.  At  the  battles  of  Lexington, 
Concord  and  Bunker  Hill,  if  any  of  our  townsmen  par- 
ticipated, it  was  as  individuals — as  they  did  when 
Arnold  marched  to  Quebec.  But  the  most  thrilling  event 
of  this  time  was  undertaken  by  a  Litchfield  man — born 
in  a  house  still  standing  if  tradition  is  to  be  believed — 
Colonel  Ethan  Allen,  who  was  in  command  of  the  troops 
that  captured  Ticonderoga,  and  who  demanded  the  sur- 
render of  the  fortress, — "In  the  name  of  the  Great  Jeho- 
vah and  the  Continental  Congress,"  nearly  fourteen 
months  before  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

Before  the  War,  Connecticut  had  no  cavalry  regiment, 
as  such.  Each  regiment  of  infantry  had  a  troop  of  horse 


attached  to  it,  consisting  of  one  company.  Soon  after  the 
beginning  of  the  War,  these  companies  were  consolidated 
in  a  cavalry  regiment  and  placed  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Elisha  Sheldon — which  regiment  soon  became  the 
pride  of  the  army,  and  was  subsequently  reorganized  as 
the  United  States  First  Dragoons. 

The  conspicuous  part  which  that  regiment  played  in 
the  War  is  of  common  knowledge  and  need  not  be  dwelt 
upon.  When  Washington  needed  protection  in  his  retreat 
from  Long  Island  and  through  the  Jerseys,  it  was  this 
regiment  which  acted  as  rear  guard  and  protected 
his  retreat  through  the  state.  Colonel  Sheldon  was  a  dis- 
tinguished and  valuable  citizen  of  the  town,  and  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  the  house  in  which  he  lived  is  still 
standing. 

The  pulling  down  of  the  equestrian  statue  of  George 
III  on  the  Bowling  Green  in  New  York  and  the  bringing 
of  it  to  Litchfield  to  be  moulded  into  bullets  by  the  fair 
women  of  our  town  is  an  incident  too  well  known  to  re- 
quire special  mention,  but  it  has  always  seemed  to  the 
writer  to  have  a  semi-comic  as  well  as  a  tragic  side.  A 
British  soldier  maimed  by  a  bullet  moulded  by  Yankee 
Rebel  women  out  of  a  statue  erected  to  honor  his  King, 
must  have  had  mingled  feelings;  his  loyalty  to  the  King 
prohibited  his  having  any  ill-feeling  toward  the  statue, 
but  his  respect  for  the  ladies  of  Litchfield  must  have  been 
considerably  lowered. 

When  the  importance  of  defeating  General  Burgoyne 
in  his  attempt  to  separate  New  England  from  New  York 
and  the  western  and  southern  states  became  apparent, 
General  Schuyler  sent  -word  to  General  Wolcott  to  hasten 
forward  to  Albany  as  many  as  possible  of  the  Connecticut 
troops.  General  Wolcott  with  his  usual  promptness  with- 
out waiting  instructions  from  Gen.  Washington  or  Gov. 
Trumbull,  ordered  all  the  Connecticut  troops  west  of  the 
Connecticut  River  to  proceed  immediately  to  Albany. 
The  Litchfield  Troop  of  Horse,  under  Major  Moses  Sey- 
mour, and  the  Infantry  Company,  under  Captain  Beebe, 
marched  immediately,  and  participated  in  the  Battles  of 


Stillwater,  Bemis  Heights  and  the  final  victory  at  Sara- 
toga, which  victory  Cressey — in  his  enumeration  of  the 
famous  battles  of  the  world — includes  as  one  of  the  most 
important. 

There  is  an  interesting  and  prophetic  incident  related 
of  the  banquet  to  which  General  Gates  invited  General 
Burgoyne  and  his  officers,  after  the  surrender,  at  which 
General  Burgoyne  in  response  to  a  request  for  a  toast, 
after  some  hesitation,  arose  and  said  :  "I  give  you  England 
and  America  against  the  world." 

At  the  attacks  on  Danbury  and  New  Haven,  our  Litch- 
field  soldiers  rushed  to  the  assistance  of  both  places. 
From  Danbury  down  to  the  place  of  debarkation  at  Com- 
po  Beach,  they  pursued,  attacked  and  harrassed  Tryon's 
troops,  capturing  and  killing  many  of  them. 

Colonel  Benjamin  Tallmadge,  aide  de  camp  to  General 
Washington,  and  one  of  the  most  distinguished  officers 
of  the  Revolution,  deserves  more  attention  than  we  have 
time  to  give  to  his  many  valuable  services.  His  part  in 
the  trial  and  execution  of  Major  Andre  called  the  atten- 
tion of  the  British,  French  and  American  commanders  to 
his  every  action,  and  excited  universal  approbation.  His 
firmness,  benevolent  judgment  and  kindly  care  of  Andre, 
and  his  irresistible  outburst  of  tears  as  that  splendid  Brit- 
ish officer  swung  into  eternity  from  the  ignominious  gib- 
bet, gave  complete  evidence  of  the  tenderness  of  his  dis- 
position— but  which  could  not  swerve  his  fidelity  to  duty. 
After  the  War  he  returned  to  his  home  here,  and  shortly 
after  was  elected  to  Congress  where  again  he  rendered 
valuable  services  to  the  nation. 

In  the  War  with  Mexico,  although  New  England  was 
not  particularly  enthusiastic  in  its  prosecution,  Connecti- 
cut did  its  part.  It  was  a  Litchfield  boy,  Henry  W.  Wes- 
sells,  subsequently  became  a  General  in  the  Regular 
Army,  who — while  a  brave  Connecticut  Colonel  was  pull- 
ing down  the  Mexican  flag  and  raising  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  over  the  Mexican  stronghold,  the  fortress  of 
Chapultepec — stood  beside  him  and  protected  him  from 
assault. 


In  the  Civil  War,  our  town  did  its  full  duty.  .The  Con- 
necticut Nineteenth  Regiment  was  recruited,  encamped 
and  trained  on  Chestnut  Hill,  and  marched  away  to  join 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  under  command  of  our  towns- 
man, Colonel  Leverett  W.  Wessells.  No  finer  body  of  men 
ever  left  the  State.  At  Manassas,  Cold  Harbor,  Spottsyl- 
vania,  Winchester,  Hanover  Court  House,  Cedar  Creek, 
City  Point,  Hatchet's  Run,  Petersburg  and  Fisher  Hill,  it 
earned  a  glorious  and  well-deserved  reputation  for  brav- 
ery and  faithful  service.  It  was  early  transferred  into 
an  artillery  regiment,  the  Second  Connecticut  Heavies,  as 
it  was  called,  and  placed  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
E.  S.  Kellogg,  and  subsequently  R.  S.  MacKenzie  of  the 
Engineers.  Under  their  command  the  Second  Connecticut 
Heavies  became  one  of  the  most  useful  and  distinguished 
regiments  of  the  Civil  War.  Colonel  Kellogg  was  killed 
while  attacking  General  Longstreet's  veteran  corps  at 
Cold  Harbor.  Of  our  citizens,  the  names  connected  with 
this  Regiment  that  comes  to  one's  mind  most  intimately 
are  the  beloved  Clerk  of  the  Superior  Court,  Dwight  C. 
Kilbourn,  of  Hinsdale,  Shumway,  Bissell,  Smith,  Stone, 
Morse,  Wadhams,  Plumb,  Wheeler  and  many  more  we 
knew  and  loved. 

In  the  Spanish  War,  when  the  American  Fleet  was 
attacking  Manila  and  the  German  ships  of  war  seemed 
to  be  intentionally  blocking  its  way,  it  was  our  fellow- 
citizen,  Rear  Admiral  Colvocoresses,  loved  and  respected 
by  all  of  us,  who  ably  assisted  Admiral  Dewey — both 
equally  willing  to  fight  Germany  if  necessary.  It  would 
perhaps  have  been  as  well  for  the  world  had  our  war  with 
Germany  begun  then  and  there. 

Though  this  is  a  sketch  dealing  with  Litchfield's  past, 
I  would  not  be  true  to  its  traditions  if  I  omitted  to  men- 
tion the  shining  glory  of  those  boys  of  ours  who  laid  down 
their  lives  in  France  for  their  country,  for  democracy  and 
the  good  of  mankind  in  the  World  War — Morgan,  Weir, 
Devines,  Jefferies,  Catty,  Cornwall,  Donahue,  Guinchi, 
Sherry  and  Zarotti.  I  like  to  think  it  was  the  spirit  of 
Litchfield  and  their  loyalty  to  the  best  traditions  of  this 

10 


town  that  made  them  "go  over"  and  "carry  on"  so  nobly. 

As  brilliant  and  effective  as  were  the  efforts  of  our  fore- 
fathers on  the  battlefields  of  the  Republic,  the  record  of 
their  civic  achievements  in  no  way  fades  by  comparison. 

Connecticut  sent  our  fellow-citizen  Oliver  Wolcott,  to 
sign  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  after  his  re- 
turn from  Congress  he  was  elected  Governor  of  the  State 
and  served  for  two  years.  When  Presidents  Washington 
and  Adams  needed  a  man  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
of  the  United  States,  to  assist  Alexander  Hamilton  in 
straightening  out  the  financial  affairs  of  the  nation  after 
the  Revolution, — they  turned  to  Litchfield  and  selected 
Oliver  Wolcott,  Jr.,  son  of  the  Governor,  for  that  impor- 
tant duty,  who  on  his  return  was  elected  Governor,  of 
the  State,  a  position  he  occupied  some  ten  years.  The  only 
other  Governor  of  the  State  from  Litchfield  was  the  late 
Charles  B.  Andrews,  at  one  time  Chief  Justice  of  the 
State. 

Connecticut  has  chosen  five  Chief  Justices  of  the  State 
from  residents  of  this  town, — Andrew  Adams,  Tapping 
Reeve,  Samuel  Church,  Origen  S.  Seymour  and  Charles 
B.  Andrews.  Eight  Justices  of  our  Superior  Court 
have  also  come  from  our  town.  Two  United  States 
Senators,  ten  Members  of  Congress,  seven  Members  of 
the  Council,  besides  numerous  Chief  Justices  and  Judges 
of  the  County  Court,  with  ten  High  Sheriffs  of  the  County. 

When  the  State  of  New  York  desired  a  man  to  associate 
with  DeWitt  Clinton  on  the  construction  of  the  Erie 
Canal,  they  selected  Henry  Seymour  formerly  of  Litch- 
field, then  a  resident  of  Utica. 

A  complete  list  of  the  important  offices  filled  by  Litch- 
field men  would  take  too  long  to  recite. 

The  social  life  of  the  town  could  hardly  be  otherwise 
than  agreeable  and  attractive.  Litchfield  has  ever  wel- 
comed the  refined  educated  person,  and  extended  to  him 
or  her  its  warmest  welcome.  The  heads  of  its  families 
were  not  only  well  educated  men  and  women,  but  usually 
occupied  high  social  position  in  the  state  and  nation.  The 
young  people  in  attendance  at  Miss  Pierce's,  the  Law 


ll 


School  and  the  Morris  Academy  were  of  the  same  high 
type  collected  from  all  the  various  States  of  the  Union. 
There  was  enough  serious  work  to  occupy  their  time  and 
give  zest  to  their  hours  of  rest  and  recreation.  Mrs.  Van- 
derpoel  in  her  delightful  book,  "A  Pioneer's  School"  has 
collected  many  graphic  descriptions  of  the  amusements 
and  pleasant  times  that  they  enjoyed. 

Samuel  Goodrich,  writing  under  the  name  of  Peter  Par- 
ley, has  this  to  say,  "Litchfield  Hill  was  in  fact  not  only 
one  of  the  most  elevated  features  in  the  physical  forma- 
tion of  the  State,  but  one  of  the  focal  points  of  literature 
and  enlightenment."  He  goes  on  to  tell  of  an  incident  in 
reference  to  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher,  which  speaks  volumes 
for  the  common  sense  of  the  good  old  Doctor:  One  eve- 
ning Dr.  Beecher  was  returning  home,  having  in  his  hand 
a  volume  of  Rees'  Encyclopedia  which  he  had  just  pur- 
chased from  the  book  store.  On  his  way  he  met  a  skunk 
and  threw  the  book  at  him,  upon  which  the  animal  retali- 
ated with  such  effect  that  when  the  Doctor  reached  home 
he  was  in  a  very  shocking  plight.  Sometime  after,  having 
been  bitterly  assailed  and  abused  by  an  opponent,  his 
friends  advised  him  to  reply.  "No,"  said  the  Doctor,  "I 
once  discharged  a  quarto  at  a  skunk  and  I  got  the  worst 
of  it.  I  do  not  wish  to  try  it  again."  The  witticisms  of  the 
town  were  proverbial,  and  did  time  permit  to  repeat, 
though  often  before  repeated,  would  be  enjoyable.  To 
me  the  reply  of  Senator  Tracy  to  Senator  Randolph  of 
Virginia  has  always  seemed  a  nearly  perfect  specimen  of 
wit.  Senator  Randolph  hastily  called  Senator  Tracy  to 
the  window  of  the  Senate  Chamber  to  see  some  of  his 
"Connecticut  Constituents."  Senator  Tracy  came  to  the 
window  as  a  drove  of  mules  was  being  driven  by.  Turn- 
ing to  Senator  Randolph  he  said,  "Oh  yes,  they  are  going 
down  to  Virginia  to  teach  school." 

There  is  also  that  delightfully  witty  repartee  of  the 
Senator  which  so  gallantly  described  for  all  time  the  la- 
dies of  Litchfield.  Mr.  Lister,  the  then  British  Ambassa- 
dor, who  was  thoroughly  English  in  his  ideas,  said  to  Gen- 


12 


eral  Tracy,  "your  countrywoman — Mrs.  Wolcott — would 
be  admired  even  at  St.  James."  "Sir,"  retorted  Senator 
Tracy,  "she  is  admired  even  on  Litchfield  Hill." 

My  friends,  I  have  mentioned  only  a  few  of  the  men 
whose  character  and  attainments  have  contributed  to  the 
upbuilding  of  this  town,  of  our  state  and  of  our  nation. 
Not  to  forgetfulness  of  their  worth  but  to  lack  of  time 
must  omissions  be  attributed.  Many  are  the  names  among 
our  forefathers  that  set  an  example  of  Godly  living, 
loyalty  and  patriotism  which  never  can  be  surpassed. 
May  we  and  our  descendants  be  as  faithful  when  called  to 
serve  our  God,  our  country  and  our  town. 


13 


